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Cryogenic stasis? Jay wonders as he processes the information that was just given. He looks out to the pods around him. I wonder how many others there are...

Marge does not like that she can't move, but at the moment she's too drowsy to feel concerned about that. She hopes that her drone can still function properly after all these years.

Green looks around nervously. Cryogenic did not sound healthy for his rose, even if he feels well enough.

STARTUP ENGAGED

BEHAVIOUR: NEUTRAL
CONDITION: 70%
STATUS: AVERAGE. MOVEMENT INPUTS ARE NOT BEING READ. WEAPONS DISENGAGED.

BEAT inspects the surface of the pod he's trapped in. It looks sturdy; even if his weapons were functioning, he couldn't blast through it. He inspects his surroundings and is alarmed to find several nearby pods, all identical to his own.

Nuclear war... what... where am I... What is going on...

Tania's heart rate rises a bit.

NAME: Robin Thunor

CHARACTERISTICS: 19 years old, male, redhead, pale skin, brown eyes, 5' 4", weighs 176 pounds. Simple black shirt and jeans. Uses dark purple glasses, and has a cat named Carmine.

Robin is emotional, and gets easily upset with people, but is also very creative, and knows how to communicate. Truly cares about his lover, Saturn, and is very passionate when it comes from protecting them from danger, despite being younger than them. Seems to always know how to get out of bad situations, and brags about it when he gets the chance, but is almost always called out on that by Saturn. Deep down, he's very paranoid and constantly thinks about the future, but doesn't want to show this side of him to everyone else, not even Saturn.

BACKSTORY: Robin never had a good relationship with his family, and before meeting Saturn, he was often made a fool of other people and was easily manipulated in his past relationships, which turned him into a paranoid, emotional person. After meeting the love of his life, they decided to live together, along with Carmine. He had a happy and fairly successful life as a singer, and composed a handful of albums together with Saturn. Robin doesn't care much about leaving Earth behind, as long as he is with Saturn and Carmine.

NAME: Saturn Frige

CHARACTERISTICS: Saturn is 20 years old and of roughly average height (5'5"/165cm), but pretty thin (110lb/50kg). They have dark mahogany hair cropped somewhat short, usually brushed up: something similar to this. Their skin is semi-light, verging on (but not quite) olive. Saturn's natural eye color is a faded grey-blue, but they prefer to wear brown contacts that match their hair. Besides, the contacts are pretty helpful for their nearsightedness. Saturn prefers to wear striped clothing--partly out of habit, but also because it's just a nice pattern. They'll typically be seen wearing long sleeves to help conceal their rather bulky left arm (more on this later).

They have an overall cool-headed, quiet, and serene demeanor, though it's well-known that they're an adept musical composer and player. They seem to be quite patient and understanding of others, for the most part. But don't let Saturn's outward appearance fool you. Their mind is always swimming with troubling thoughts of the past and the present, and they are constantly straining to maintain a consistent logical order in life. At first, this had proven to be intensely difficult, and they became easily frustrated and confused with anything which didn't make logical sense, anything which wasn't planned... However, the man who became Saturn's lover, Robin, soon taught them how to embrace spontaneity and improvisation, along with helping them learn to accept change, which Saturn believes has enriched their life greatly. They've forged a powerful and loving bond with Robin, and Saturn vows not to ever let anything hurt him. A bitter sadness about what they left behind on Earth still lingers deep in Saturn's mind, however, and the stress occasionally surfaces, overwhelming them to the point of emotional outbursts, even toward those closest to them.

BACKSTORY: To an extent, Saturn resents their parents' decision to name them "Saturn", but it's hard to complain, because it's a pretty neat-sounding name. In fact, they find it hard to complain in general nowadays; they've made their way into the real world pretty well. Their parents had a troubled relationship, though they never took those troubles out on Saturn; however, it seemed Saturn was the only remaining thing linking their mother and father together. They were pressured into high achievement from a young age, and they soon conformed to the strict and orderly lifestyle of private school. There was little room for fun or friendship in Saturn's life, until they discovered the art and science of composing with the help of a music teacher.

She first taught Saturn the ancient and arcane ways of the piano, before moving on to more modern instruments of the 22nd and 23rd century, though Saturn developed an affinity for older sounds--they soon successfully convinced their parents to buy them a body-integrated synthesizer for their left arm, which drew many odd stares from passersby but opened up new musical horizons for Saturn. They began to branch out of home and school play into real society, though quite sheepishly at first, for fear of the ongoing war and instability across the globe. At age 14, not without protest from their parents, Saturn was allowed to start playing music for tips, first at the seedy little holo-park down the street. With an unexpected and uncanny gift for attracting audiences with money, to the great (and pleasant) surprise of their parents.

Long story short, Saturn started playing more professionally at restaurants and even the occasional concert, broadening their network of musical contacts and even some real friends. Eventually, they met a younger but very passionate singing partner, Robin Thunor, around when they were age 16. After working together and talking for a few months, Robin quickly became best friends with Saturn, and he started living with Saturn and their family. Enlisting the help of Saturn's former teacher, they became a successful musical act titled NGC4314. But then the war came too close to home, and Saturn's parents vanished with a host of other city figures, including their elementary music teacher, several local elites, along with a number of innocent, ordinary citizens. The sudden change tore at Saturn's heart and shook their mind, but they had to face reality, and Saturn began living with Robin independently. Robin adopted a cat, Carmine, and they both went back to producing music as a duo to make a living. The two composed a handful of albums together while Saturn attempted to recover with support from Robin and Carmine. The three continued this lifestyle until they were taken aboard the ESTO-24, forced to abandon their past in the wake of nuclear war. Saturn still struggles to put everything they lost behind them, though...



// OOC: sorry for potential inconsistencies with story, I wrote this yesterday and don't really feel like rewriting the backstory. also apologies for length

"Guh... What in the blazing..."

Casper strokes his white, thick mustache and wonders what the heck happened. Suddenly, his dusty apartment sounded much better than this current situation.

(I forgot to mention that Casper has a thick mustache and a badass beard, like zz-top grade beards)

Artificial light presses down through Saturn's eyelids, but they daren't open them. It would be a crime to miss an opportunity for some beauty sleep. It's the weekend, isn't it? No need to get up so soon... I'll just... Saturn moves to roll over, turning their face away from the light source.

But move, Saturn does not. This... no. Okay, stay calm. Don't worry. This has happened before. It's okay. It's going to be okay, Carmine's...

Carefully lifting an eyelid, Saturn glances around for a sign of life--as best as they can, of course, given their current state of paralysis. Their gaze is met with a faint, foggy reflection in the curved glass not a foot from their face. No, stop it! A heavy weight feels as if it is descending on their chest, and pulsating currents of terror begin to ripple through their body. The image in front of Saturn seems to dance and wave, beckoning... "R-r..." Robin? I-- ...or is it mocking? Mom, I'm scared. Stop it, stop doing that. M-make it stop!

A distant and hollow voice speaks up, seemingly from nowhere. By its grainy texture, Saturn decides it must be an intercom, though they can scarcely hear a word of the message beneath the ringing sound in their ears. What are you trying to tell me? Is this some kind of jo.. "..ke?" Hm. The phonemes that they can manage to sputter out appear to have little correlation, if any; the notion is discarded. But curious...

The pressure sensation lifts almost as suddenly as it began, and Saturn dares to stare back into the glass once again. Relief washed over them. It's you--I mean, me. I'm... here. Breathe. The new condensation on the glass obscures Saturn's own reflection, but worry and fear for Carmine and Robin begin to take over their thoughts in its place. ...

Still shaken by the rough wakeup, Saturn turns their attention to what remains of the intercom message, attempting to absorb the info. They shiver gently.